Historical Thinking Skills

John P. Irish, Ph.D., has worked as a curriculum coordinator, teacher, and adjunct professor in Texas. He has almost thirty years of experience in education, teaching U.S. History, European History, and Humanities, and serving as a mentor and professional development leader for teachers nationwide. A longtime College Board Faculty Consultant, Dr. Irish has served as a member and co-chair of the AP® U.S. History Test Development Committee and has led numerous AP® Summer Institutes and teacher training workshops across the country. He has also been recognized by state and national organizations for his outstanding teaching; he was the 2016 Outstanding Teacher of the Humanities from Humanities Texas and was the 2020 Gilder Lehrman U.S. History Teacher of the Year for the state of Texas. Dr. Irish holds a Doctorate in Humanities from Southern Methodist University, where his research examined nineteenth-century philosophy, politics, and the writings of Irish American author Fitz-James O’Brien. His scholarship explores intersections between literature, philosophy, and culture, and his work has appeared in American Gothic Studies, Penumbra: A Journal of Weird Fiction and Criticism, The Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, and Philosophy Now, among others. He is the editor of several scholarly editions of O’Brien’s fiction, including a three-volume collection with Swan River Press (Dublin, Ireland), and a contributing author to volumes in the Philosophy and Pop Culture series from Wiley–Blackwell and Open Court. Dr. Irish is also the author of W. W. Norton’s Historical Thinking Skills Workbooks for U.S., World, and European History, which are widely used in Advanced Placement classrooms across the country. His work as an educator and scholar reflects his enduring commitment to helping students and teachers alike think critically about history and the humanities through evidence-based reasoning, contextual understanding, and analytical writing.